


Fight the Break of Dawn

by silentdescant



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Goodbyes, Military, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-01
Updated: 2009-12-01
Packaged: 2017-10-21 21:19:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/229974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentdescant/pseuds/silentdescant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Can’t you stay one more night?” (Ghost of You AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fight the Break of Dawn

**Author's Note:**

> Not the cheerful holiday fic you were expecting! This is actually inspired by a few things my roommate told me about seeing her boyfriend off on his deployment a few weeks ago. ♥

“Can’t you stay one more night?” Alicia asks quietly, knowing it’s useless to even think about such things. Mikey doesn’t even bother to shake his head. He strokes her cheek, eyes following the motion of his hand, tracing the smooth curves of Alicia’s face.

They have to leave for the train station in just over an hour. They’re both dressed—Mikey’s already bundled up in his heavy, Army-issue coat—but Alicia had coaxed him back to bed, just for a few minutes. Her own feet are bare, and she presses the top part of her foot against Mikey’s ankle, feeling the warmth of his socks.

She sighs and allows Mikey a few minutes of quiet, though all she wants to do is talk. She wants Mikey to talk to her, and she wants to tell him she loves him. She wants to say and hear everything in case this is their last chance. She knows the odds of him coming home unhurt are slim.

Mikey slowly drags his hand down to her throat, nudging aside the collar of her dress with the back of his hand, so he can curve his palm over her thin shoulder and press his thumb gently to her pulse-point. His movements are careful and measured—they usually are, but he’s taking it to a new extreme—and Alicia can practically sense his mind cataloguing every touch. She closes her eyes and tries to do the same.

When the grandfather clock in the front hall starts chiming the half-hour, Mikey takes his hands away from Alicia’s skin, and Alicia opens her eyes. They reluctantly roll off the bed. Mikey sits down to lace up his boots. Alicia stands at the doorway, feeling taller but no more independent in her bright red high-heels.

Mikey looks up at her, and she smoothes out her skirts self-consciously. The corners of his lips lift slightly in an almost-smile.

“Your shoes match your dress,” he says. Alicia nods. “I’ll remember that.”

Mikey stands up and takes a few steps towards her. His hand reaches out and Alicia closes the distance, so he can wrap his arms around her waist and pull her close for a kiss.

“I’ll remember that your shoes match the red flowers on your dress, and I’ll think of how beautiful you look right now every time I see red flowers,” he whispers in her ear, after they break apart for air.

There’s silence downstairs and Alicia catches a glimpse of the alarm clock by the bed. “Let’s just stay,” she murmurs under her breath. “Let’s miss the train.”

“I can’t. I have to go, ‘licia.” He leans away from her and smiles. “I can’t let Gerard go overseas alone. He’ll get himself shot as soon as we land.”

Mikey bends down and takes the handles of his duffel bag and lifts it with a groan. Alicia takes his hand as they walk down the stairs.

***

They stop by Gerard and Lindsey’s house to pick them up, and then they see the other boys and their families once they make their way inside the station.

Alicia’s reluctant to let go of Mikey’s hand, but he eventually pulls away to hug and kiss Lindsey, and then Jamia and Christa. Alicia gets passed around between the boys, and she hugs them all tightly. Frank gives her an enthusiastic kiss at the corner of her mouth, close enough to her lips that Jamia slaps his shoulder playfully. They’re the only two laughing.

It’s a little unnerving to see such solemn faces on her friends, and even Jamia’s smile seems forced. The others don’t even bother with the façade, though. Gerard has tears in his eyes, but he’s putting on a brave face for his wife, and Ray’s doing the same.

Mikey drifts back to Alicia’s side and laces their fingers together. She tightens her grip on him, holding him close while they all chat in a haphazard circle.

Eventually the whistle blows and everyone reluctantly turns to the train. Mikey stands behind Alicia and wraps his arms around her waist, leaning to the side to kiss her cheek from over her shoulder.

“We have to go,” he whispers.

Alicia knows better than to force him to make promises he can’t keep, so she bites her tongue on the instinctive response. She hears Lindsey, beside them, whisper it word-for-word to Gerard, though, and Alicia’s heart aches. Come home to me.

“I love you,” Mikey says instead.

Alicia turns around in his arms and kisses him deeply on the mouth. His glasses have slipped to the end of his nose, and she can feel the sharp wire rim against her cheek when she presses closer.

The whistle blows its warning again, and Gerard’s hands are tugging them apart. “Mikey, Mikey, come on, we have to go,” he mutters under his breath, eyes darting between them and the train. “I’m sorry, but—”

Mikey lets Gerard pull him away. They hurry up to the train and drag their heavy duffle bags up the short stairs. Alicia glances behind her to find the other wives.

Lindsey and Jamia are holding hands, and Christa stands a few feet away from them, dabbing at her eyes with a crisp, white handkerchief. They’re not the only ones left behind on the platform. It shocks Alicia to see how many crying women are scattered around, seeing their husbands off.

Alicia looks back at the train in time to see Frank leaning out the window. Jamia shouts at him, “Don’t do anything stupid!” and he just grins, blows her a kiss, and ducks back inside. Mikey takes his place.

The train starts to move, very slowly, and then picking up speed as it pulls away from the platform. Alicia keeps pace with it for a few steps and then breaks into a run, heels clacking obnoxiously against the smooth floor.

Mikey leans far out the window and reaches for Alicia’s outstretched hand, and Alicia can see Ray behind him, holding him around the waist. Their hands touch for a moment, Mikey’s calloused fingers rubbing against her palm and then slipping away.

Alicia shouts, “I love you, too!” and it makes Mikey break into a smile, as if he didn’t already know.

Alicia stops running when the train gets too fast for her. She stands at the edge of the platform, chest heaving as she pants for breath, and feels empty. The tracks bend around a tall building, and she watches until the train disappears. Then she watches a bit longer, even though she knows he’s not coming back.

She’s thankful that Lindsey doesn’t come to get her. She can feel the women’s presence behind her, feel their eyes on her, or maybe on the receding train tracks, but Alicia’s not ready to leave yet. She thinks maybe they aren’t ready to go either.

She finally heads back to the others and accepts Lindsey’s invitation to stay the night in her guest room. Alicia can put off learning how to live without Mikey at her side until tomorrow, at least.

  
 _fin_.


End file.
